


A Prank for the Season

by Wiccy



Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Childhood, Childhood Friends, Children, Gen, Humor, Prequel, child fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-10-20
Updated: 2013-10-20
Packaged: 2017-12-29 22:36:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,029
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1010931
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Wiccy/pseuds/Wiccy
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Set about ten years before the show starts, little Arthur and Morgana are on a mission to pull off the Winter season's best prank ever.</p>
<p>No pairings. Features Arthur, Morgana, Gaius, Uther and Geoffrey Of Monmouth</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Prank for the Season

**Author's Note:**

  * For [gnimaerd](https://archiveofourown.org/users/gnimaerd/gifts).



“We're going to get caught if you don't stop giggling,” he glared at her.

“Sorry. I can't help it,” she responded, bringing her small hand up to cover her mouth.

“Well TRY! My father will lock us away for days if we're caught,” he hissed on a whisper, his blue eyes sparkling in the fading sunlight.

“Yes, well, he might lock you away for days anyway.” 

She gave him that knowing smile that always unsettled him. It just looked wrong on the lips of a child so young as she was. He also didn't like to be reminded that his father let him get away with nothing while she got away with everything. All it took was one of her sweet, innocent, girlish glances and a quick blaming of Arthur and the King was putty in her little hands. It was quite sickening actually.

He glared at her. It was the best he could do since he knew he had no real or valid argument on the matter. She simply giggled more. This was getting them nowhere. At this rate they would stand here arguing in hushed whispers until either the sun came up, they got caught or both. None of those options would do. They were on a mission and they would complete it, even if that meant swallowing his pride and allowing her to think she'd won.

To see his plan through, he ignored her and went back to watching the door across the hallway. They were crouch down in the shadows of a massive statue of some old knight or other waiting for the court physician to leave and make his nighttime rounds of the castle. The man was running later than usual, and they had to get into his stores and get what they needed while still having time to finish the rest of the plan.

"Are you sure you got the time right?" Morgana asked him, the first strings of boredom evident in her voice.

Arthur rolled his eyes, the girl had the attention span of a moth and it really was quite annoying sometimes, "Yes, I'm certain. I watched him for the whole week. He should have lef..."

His words were cut short as the door they were watching swung open on it's hinges with a loud creak and Gaius meandered out, his robes brushing the ground at his feet. The man paused to adjust the strap of his shoulder bag and push his brown hair out of his eyes before turning and making his way off to his first patient. Arthur turned and gave his companion his best 'I told you so' smirk and Morgana rewarded him by sticking her tongue out and tossing her head about from shoulder to shoulder. Arthur rolled his eyes again before turning back to the task at hand.

He began to creep out of their hiding place when Gaius's back vanished around the corner and the hallway was once again left devoid of anyone but them.

"Come on," he whispered over his shoulder at her, "and for heaven's sake be quite."

Gathering her skirts together in one hand she shimmied her way out from behind the statue. Once she was in a standing position again she flounced her skirts a bit trying to get herself back into some semblance of order. Arthur's head whipped around toward her and he glared at her through squinting eyes.

"Is it possible for you to make a little MORE noise? You're trying to get us caught aren't you? You like getting me into trouble and seeing how far you can push my father's favor don't you."

The boy prince looked as if he was starting to question whether or not this little prank was actually his idea and not, in some manner, hers. She wanted to laugh, she really did, but that would not go far in convincing Arthur. She thought the plan was a rather brilliant one and she wanted to be a part of it. It shouldn't matter if the other things were the truth most of the time.

"I'm sorry," she whispered at him. "You try always going around in a dress and see how quite you can be."

Yet more eye rolling was seen before he turned back around and headed for the doorway, his eyes searching both directions every few moments. When they had themselves crowded into the doorway Arthur took hold of the handle and looked to Morgana. Morgana took a deep breath and gave him a silent nod. Arthur carefully twisted and then pushed the door wide. They both winced at the squeal and remained completely still, eyes squeezed shut, for a moment, as if they were waiting for a death blow.

When nothing happened they breathed a collective sigh of relief and entered the room beyond the door. They grinned at each other and then at the room at large, all of it's surfaces and spaces holding wonderful, unknown things that the royal physician used to make his cures and potions. Closing the door behind them, they each took a separate wall and began searching for the ingredient that they needed for their plan to work.

The search lasted for several minutes, interspersed with snickering and giggling over the names of things, descriptions on the labels or simply the visuals an item presented.

"Found it," Arthur said over his shoulder.

As his small hand wrapped around the vile and pulled it from the shelf the door gave a squeak and both sets of eyes flew to it and then each other. Morgana darted across the room and gave Arthur a mighty shove so that he landed with a heavy thud on his rump, completely concealed, behind a large work bench. The boy had no time to protest as the door to the room swung completely open and they were no longer alone.

"Morgana? What are you doing in here? You know my chambers are off limits," Gaius's voice sounded off the stone walls and Arthur could picture the man scanning the room in search of Arthur himself.

Morgana fained a start, making containers on the shelf where she had her hand tinkle, and spun around. She plastered an innocent smile on her face and for a moment looked as if she was searching for words before giving up and letting out a heavy sigh.

"I was looking for an ingredient," she told the physician.

His eyebrow shot up toward his hairline, "For what exactly?"

"For Arthur's tea," she lied. "Something that will make all his hair fall out or make him swell up like a great big boil."

Gaius's face broke into a large yet somewhat reluctant grin, his head shaking back and forth a bit, as he moved further into the room and toward Morgana. Once he was within range of her he reached out and took the vile that she was holding and placed it back on the shelf. Morgana watched it go with a little pout.

The physician laid a gentle hand on the girl's shoulder, his other hand indicating one of the chairs at the table before them.

"Why don't you sit down and tell me what he's done this time." 

Arthur had to clamped down on his protestations at the man's words. Why was he the one who always got the blame for everything where Morgana was concerned? She may be a girl, but she was a crafty and cunning one. Sometimes he worried about what that would mean for the future, but mostly it just annoyed him to no end.

Trying not to think about it right at that moment Arthur stealthily got to his feet, still crouching behind the work bench, stuck the vile into his inner tunic pocket and poked his head around the corner to see what was happening in the room.

Luckily Gaius's back was too him and he had a perfect line of sight to Morgana. He listened a moment as she told the man some grand tale of Arthur's utter and unprovoked meanness and even managed to produce big fat tears. The physician became visibly agitated and move to his knees to take the girl into his arms, attempting to comfort her with soothing strokes to her back and assurances that it would be alright; that Arthur would grow up someday. As annoying as she could be, Arthur had to admit, the girl was GOOD.

He only had a moment to contemplate that fact before his eyes met Morgana's and she gave him and urgent, wide eyed glare, flicking them repeatedly toward the still open door. Taking the hint Arthur made a fleet footed hunter's dash across the distance and out into the thankfully empty hallway.

Trusting that Morgana could no doubt get herself safely out and back to there meeting place in the court yard, he beat a hasty retreat to his quarters to pick up the other necessary components for their mission.

He had been waiting there for at least twenty minutes before she finally showed up. He had been about to complain about her taking her sweet time, but she beat him to it by launching into a tirade about childless men and their need to be fathers to everyone else's children. Arthur decided to tune most of her words out as he mixed together the three liquids that they had gathered throughout the day.

Morgana, apparently finished with her complaints, giggled as she watched the young prince at his task. Arthur looked up and gave her a slightly lop-sided grin as he pushed the cork back into the main bottle and handed it to her.

"You're sure you can handle the last part of this?"

She gave him a look that said she thought he was an idiot for even asking, especially after she'd saved their hides with Gaius, as she tucked the little vile into the belt about her waist. As he watched her wander off he wondered if their little prank would really play out as they had hoped when they devised the plan.

  
  


As Geoffrey Of Monmouth raised his goblet at the end of his long, boring, and history filled speech Arthur glanced across the table toward Morgana with a questioning look. She responded with an evil little grin and turned her attention back toward the palace historian. Arthur, now wearing a huge grin, did the same.

"May the winter season be blessed and the yule log burn bright!" he finished bringing the goblet to his lips and drank deeply.

For a moment Arthur didn't think that the potion had worked and sent a disappointed glance at his compatriot. Morgana was staring, wide eyed up at the front of the room, biting her lip to keep from laughing and Arthur's eyes shot back toward the man, still standing before his chair as the room erupted in laughter.

Geoffrey's beard, which until a moment ago had been a nice shade of dark brown, was snow white and the apples of his cheeks and tip of his nose were so red they nearly glowed.

"What sorcery is this!" Uther's voice boomed through the hall as he moved to Geoffrey's side.

Gaius was not far behind and he quickly looked the historian over. With a knowing look he brought the goblet to his nose and sniffed. One eyebrow arching up his eyes scanned the other tables until they found Arthur and Morgana.

"It's not sorcery, Sire," His eyes never left the two children as he spoke. "It's a missapplication of potion work."

Uther's eyes narrowed and his line of sight followed that of the physician, landing, inevitably upon the faces of his son and his ward. His jaw clenched tightly and he strode toward them, the look on his face leaving no room to doubt his purpose.

"Explain yourselves." the King demanded as he stopped, heavy footed, before them.

The two conspirators looked up at their seething King with audible gulps then at each other and back again. Simultaneously, each raised an arm, stretched out across the table with an accusatory finger pointed at the other and blurted out loudly.

"She did it!"

"He did it!"

**Author's Note:**

> This fic was written especially for my Merlin Secret Santa person. 
> 
> Yes I realize that I am mixing traditions, that the dates for certain things tradition wise don't really mesh and that I am, in some areas, just making stuff up, but it is all in the name of the season and making this little fluffy fic work. So just go with it! 
> 
> Unbetaed so any mistakes are completely and utterly mine, if you see any and would like to point them out, please do so. This also marks my first completed fic for this fandom! Yay!


End file.
